


Daily Password: [        ]

by tookumade



Series: Haikyuu!! MatsuHana Week - 2017 [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Neko Atsume - Freeform, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-12-06 07:42:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11596068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tookumade/pseuds/tookumade
Summary: “Neko Atsume?” Hanamaki says sleepily when he recognises the song coming from his phone. He opens his eyes with a mystified smile. “You’re still playing?”(written for Haikyuu!! MatsuHana Week - Day 1 - music)





	Daily Password: [        ]

**Author's Note:**

> raise your hand if you still play Neko Atsume o/

It starts with small, intimate gestures, very different from their usual joke-flirting, arguably less platonic than their usual touches: leaning against each other when they’re bone-tired and don’t want to move; bumping elbows as they walk to and from school with what feels like increasing closeness; shoulders and arms touching as they lean back against their hands whilst listening to Mizoguchi-san discussing volleyball tactics and scribbling notes on the whiteboard; Hanamaki absently draping a leg over Matsukawa’s knee as he checks his twitter feed on his phone, just because he can; Matsukawa resting his hand on Hanamaki’s wrist, because nobody has any good reason to tell him not to.  
  
It continues with the Neko Atsume theme song.  
  
They’re both waiting for Oikawa and Iwaizumi, who are having a quick meeting with the volleyball club staff after practice one day. Matsukawa sits on the stairs leading up to their clubroom, and Hanamaki drops his bag onto the floor and sits beside him with a groan.  
  
“I’m dead,” he says tiredly.  
  
Matsukawa smiles. “It wasn’t too much different from our usual practices, was it?”  
  
“You weren’t getting your ass kicked by Oikawa over jump serves.”  
  
“True.”  
  
“I’m taking a nap. Wake me up with they’re done.” Hanamaki yawns. “Or, carry me; that’d be nice.”  
  
“I’m not carrying you.”  
  
“You’re a terrible person.”  
  
“I can live with th—”  
  
Matsukawa stops abruptly when Hanamaki leans on him, rests his head on his shoulder, and shuts his eyes.  
  
There’s a long moment of quiet, and Hanamaki can actually feel himself on the edge of dozing off, even if the stairs aren’t exactly comfortable. He feels Matsukawa shuffling a little after being stock-still all this time, and then there’s the sound of his phone being unlocked, before—  
  
“Neko Atsume?” Hanamaki says sleepily when he recognises the song coming from his phone. He opens his eyes with a mystified smile. “You’re still playing?”  
  
“Mm.”  
  
“Hey, I’m not judging, I’m just surprised. Any new cats?”  
  
“A few.” Matsukawa shows him his photo album. “There’s a ninja cat… a wizard cat…”  
  
“Nice. Do you have their gifts?”  
  
“Nothing from the wizard cat yet. The ninja cat gives you a—”  
  
“ _Hey, guys!_ Thanks for waiting!” comes Oikawa’s voice from ahead, making them both look up to see him and Iwaizumi leaving the gymnasium.  
  
“—paper ninja star.”  
  
Hanamaki gives a groan of protest and sits upright. “I’m gonna paper-ninja-star _them_. I just got comfortable.”  
  
Matsukawa gives a little laugh as their friends draw closer, and Hanamaki and Iwaizumi quickly start bantering. He closes the Neko Atsume app and locks his phone.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The next time Hanamaki hears the Neko Atsume theme song is two days later, when they're walking to school in the morning. Hanamaki had brought up the chemistry test that their year level had later that day that was meant to be particularly brutal, and how woefully unprepared he was. Matsukawa had winced and nodded as though in great pain. He then pulled out his phone, and a few seconds later, the theme song was playing.  
  
"Ooh, you know what would be cute?" says Hanamaki. "Science-related Neko Atsume stuff. A scientist cat, with like, a set of test tubes or beakers or something, and—"  
  
"Stop," says Matsukawa faintly. "Don't ruin this game for me." He actually looks a little clammy as he turns up the volume whilst looking at Hanamaki very pointedly, and Hanamaki dissolves into snickering, and doesn't bring up the chemistry test again. It doesn’t escape him that Matsukawa looks a little less ill by the time they reach the school. He doesn’t think too much of it.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The next time after that is a few days later, when they're at Hanamaki's house over the weekend and trying to do homework, and Hanamaki declares himself deserving of a short break, and promptly takes a nap on the living room floor next to Matsukawa and the coffee table they had been working on, despite Matsukawa’s protests and attempts to get Hanamaki to do some more work.  
  
When Hanamaki wakes up several minutes later, the Neko Atsume theme song is playing softly from Matsukawa's phone, and Matsukawa is lying beside him, chest rising and falling evenly with sleep. To wake him up, Hanamaki reaches over and jabs him in the ribs, and Matsukawa bolts upright and throws him an indignant look. Hanamaki grins at him and waves, and Matsukawa's expression turns to that of great exasperation that's mingled with a smile he can't quite hide. With a more comfortable sigh, he closes the Neko Atsume app.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The time after that is when they're walking home from school and Hanamaki, yawning widely, links their arms together and huddles up beside Matsukawa and says, “I’m going on auto-pilot and taking a half-nap. Wake me up when we’re nearly at my street. Don't walk me into any street poles."  
  
"But that's half the fun."  
  
"You have a very twisted definition of _fun_ , you know that, Matsukawa-kun?"  
  
"And you have very odd sleeping patterns and habits, but you don't hear me complaining." There's the familiar click of Matsukawa unlocking his phone, and then the Neko Atsume theme song starts playing again.  
  
"Just because I don't hear you complain, doesn't mean you don't do it."  
  
"True. I complain about you a lot in my head."  
  
"I'm always on your mind? That's very sweet. I'll take it."  
  
“You know, you’re talking a lot for someone on auto-pilot.”  
  
“I’m staying awake after all. I’ve decided I don't trust you enough to not push me in front of oncoming traffic."  
  
"I'm wounded.” Matsukawa taps at his phone. “The snow cat says hi, by the way."  
  
"Hi."  
  
"You're cutting off my blood circulation."  
  
“I just got comfortable. Deal with it,” says Hanamaki through another yawn. And Matsukawa—Matsukawa does, as they continue to banter and jostle each other for the rest of their walk, but he keeps the Neko Atsume app on the entire time, until they reach the street where they split off to return home.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Hanamaki hears the Neko Atsume theme song more and more frequently, he realises—at least once a day.  
  
It’s almost always when he and Matsukawa are alone, and he wonders for a while if Matsukawa just really, really likes the game but is too worried about their other friends teasing him for it, but he pushes the thought away when he realises this isn’t likely, given that he knows Matsukawa doesn’t have that sort of relationship with their friends, and that they’re all generally quite comfortable and honest around each other, and that, well, Matsukawa could just mute the sound so they wouldn’t notice, if he really was worried.  
  
It’s on Hanamaki’s mind a lot. He thinks should probably stop and chill, but he’s curious.  
  
And it’s because he’s curious, too, that he ends up paying attention to Matsukawa a lot more whilst trying to pick up little clues.  
  
Eventually, he realises a few things: that Matsukawa doesn’t touch Neko Atsume when he’s relaxed; that if he looks tense and has his phone on his person, Hanamaki just has to count a handful of seconds before Matsukawa unlocks it and starts playing; that sometimes he likes just listening to the song, and that he looks more mellow this way.  
  
That when he’s relaxed, he sometimes has a really nice, warm smile, and Hanamaki feels a little more relaxed, too; that lately, more and more often, Matsukawa has been avoiding meeting Hanamaki’s eyes, but never avoiding his company; that Matsukawa is rarely ever the one to instigate their small intimate touches, but will readily lean into them when Hanamaki does, and is never the first to pull away.  
  
That that time they both fell asleep on the school rooftop, with Matsukawa’s head resting on Hanamaki’s shoulder, one hand clutched around his phone with the Neko Atsume theme song playing softly, and the other resting upon Hanamaki’s arm, was one of the nicest memories Hanamaki has, and he regrets being woken up so suddenly by the end-of-lunch bell; that they have a number of little moments like these, and honestly, Hanamaki likes every single one—wishes they’d all last a little longer, if he’s being honest.  
  
That he slowly comes to know why Matsukawa plays Neko Atsume so much. And that if he approaches Matsukawa about it in the right way, Hanamaki might find out that he’s right about his guess as to where he fits into the equation, too.

 

 

* * *

 

 

It’s a warm Sunday morning, and Hanamaki is slinking away from Matsukawa’s house after being informed by his mother (who had been nonetheless delighted to see Hanamaki) that her son had gone out for a walk. What a shame; he had been hoping he could rudely kick Matsukawa awake for shits and giggles, and the two of them could spend the day playing games like the irresponsible teens they sometimes pretended to be. He likes those mellow days the most.  
  
That, and, well, he really wants to know about the Neko Atsume thing.  
  
Hanamaki goes off on a walk as well, and heads straight towards the river, because if he knows Matsukawa—and he does—he knows that’s where Matsukawa likes to sit and chill on warm days like these, especially if he has a lot on his mind, like Hanamaki guesses he currently does.  
  
And sure enough, he’s right, and spots Matsukawa sitting cross-legged by the riverbank and leaning back on his hands, staring out impassively over the water. He looks relaxed from afar, but Hanamaki knows him better than that; there’s a tension in his shoulders that’s only obvious from the nearly three years they’ve known each other and learnt about each other.  
  
Matsukawa raises his head and notices Hanamaki from across the river. Hanamaki waves and begins to cross the bridge towards him, and Matsukawa waves back and picks up his phone that had been balancing on his knee.  
  
“Is that Neko Atsume?” says Hanamaki as he reaches him and sits down by his side. It’s a rhetorical question; he can hear the theme song. Matsukawa just continues to tap at his phone, a little smile quirking at the corner of his own mouth.  
  
“The pirate cat came to visit,” he says. “I haven’t seen him for a while. And I didn’t have a photo of the odd-eyes cat in the honey pot until now.”  
  
“Which one is the odd-eyes cat?”  
  
“The one with the odd coloured eyes.”  
  
“Do you wanna bet I could throw you into the river, jackass?”  
  
Matsukawa just grins and continues tapping at his phone, buying some more cat food, and Hanamaki allows him a moment of this… this _hiding away_ , this moment of escape (but not for too long, because they need more than this, both of them—they need the next step).  
  
He breathes in, and then out, slowly.  
  
“You tend to play Neko Atsume most when you get nervous,” Hanamaki points out casually, watching Matsukawa from the corner of his eye. “Did you know that?”  
  
“I what now?”  
  
“I noticed it a few times. I mean, you’re generally pretty chill, but when you get nervous, you usually start playing Neko Atsume.”  
  
“Stop watching me, you creep.”  
  
Matsukawa swats away the blades of grass that Hanamaki throws at him, laughing, but still not looking at him.  
  
“Last semester,” Hanamaki continues, “when you thought you failed your… maths test, I think it was? Yeah, that’s right, you were waiting to hear back from Yamada-sensei. You had Neko Atsume open for nearly fifteen minutes. I think I actually dreamt about cats that night.”  
  
“Oh.” Caught, Matsukawa smiles faintly and shrugs. “I guess I just like the theme song.”  
  
“You’ve also been playing it a lot whenever you’re with me.” Hanamaki smiles slightly, too. “Am I making you nervous, Matsukawa?”  
  
“A little, yeah.”  
  
“Sorry.”  
  
“It’s okay.”  
  
“Do you want me to leave?”  
  
“No.”  
  
They fall into silence for a moment as Matsukawa taps at his phone. Mingled with the Neko Atsume theme song is the sound of clicking as he flicks through photo album pages of his cats. Hanamaki watches his long fingers move over his phone’s screen, remembers the familiar look of his hands whenever he blocks or spikes in volleyball, whenever he high-fives his teammates after scoring a point… remembers the feel of his hand whenever it rests on Hanamaki’s arm; wonders how their hands would feel with their fingers entwined together.  
  
“If I make you nervous,” says Hanamaki at last, “but Neko Atsume makes you calm, then what are you right now?”  
  
“Questioning my life choices.”  
  
“Deep. What are you thinking about?”  
  
Matsukawa pauses for a moment, exchanges some silver fish for gold fish. “I’m thinking that you know what I’m thinking about.”  
  
“You’re probably right,” says Hanamaki. “So… is it okay?”  
  
“Is what okay?”  
  
Matsukawa freezes when Hanamaki slowly reaches over, hand hovering over Matsukawa’s and pausing for a moment. Hanamaki can hear him take a soft, deep breath.  
  
Matsukawa’s hand is cool, Hanamaki notes when he finally touches it, covering it with his own warm hand. Usually it’s the other way around, but Matsukawa _has_ been sitting here for a while, he supposes. Hanamaki’s fingers curl around his hand, and he can feel Matsukawa stiffen further, if that was somehow possible.  
  
“Breathe,” he says quietly.  
  
Matsukawa’s shoulders drop a little as he exhales, and then takes another slow breath.  
  
“You make it a little hard to, sometimes,” he says eventually.  
  
“Yeah?”  
  
“It’s not your fault.”  
  
“How do I make it better?”  
  
“I don’t really know.”  
  
Hanamaki shifts his position so that they’re closer now, and he’s facing Matsukawa a little more. Matsukawa is staring steadfastly over the river. Hanamaki tugs their hands away from his phone, with the Neko Atsume theme song still playing, and slowly, he laces their fingers together. Matsukawa swallows, his expression blank, and he still refuses to make eye contact, but when his own fingers curl around Hanamaki’s, Hanamaki knows that this—this is okay. This feels right.  
  
“Still nervous?” Hanamaki asks.  
  
“Yeah,” says Matsukawa. “My heart’s beating so fast, I feel like I just ran ten laps around the neighbourhood. Can’t you hear it?”  
  
Hanamaki just smiles a little. “Do you want to go on a date soon?”  
  
“Depends. Are we talking like, ramen, or are you going to take me to the fanciest sushi restaurant in the—”  
  
Matsukawa is cut off when Hanamaki leans in and kisses him.  
  
It’s surprisingly graceful for a first kiss, for something so spur-of-the-moment, as though they’d done it a hundred times before. They press together with a familiarity that Hanamaki feels in the way they’ve leaned against each other in the past or enjoyed each other’s company—realises with more clarity that this has run deep for a long time, and thinks that he’d like to hold onto this for as long as he can.  
  
When he finally pulls away, Matsukawa’s grip on his hand eases, and Hanamaki hadn’t even noticed how tightly he was holding on until the blood rushes back through his fingers.  
  
“Oh,” says Matsukawa sheepishly as Hanamaki pulls his hand back and shakes and flexes it experimentally. “Sorry.”  
  
Hanamaki makes a thoughtful humming sound. “I’m thinking that next time I challenge you to an arm-wrestle, I could kiss you so that your brain short-circuits and I can have an easy victory, but then you might just hold my hand hard enough that I lose all feeling, and—”  
  
Matsukawa shoves at him and Hanamaki grins. There’s a brilliant flush in Matsukawa’s face, but Hanamaki can feel a warmth in his own, too, and refrains from mentioning it, even though it’s an easy teasing point.  
  
“How were you not nervous?” Matsukawa mumbles, reaching for Hanamaki’s hand again—fitting their hands together with ease this time.  
  
“Who says I wasn’t?” Hanamaki replies. “I just wasn’t as nervous as you, that’s all. Seeing you get all jittery actually made me calmer. You’re like Neko Atsume for me.”  
  
“I _hate_ you,” is all Matsukawa can say as the two dissolve into laughter now, and at the sight of Matsukawa like this, laughing and looking more at relaxed than he had for what seems like a long time, Hanamaki feels a little swoop in his stomach—feels fondness, feels something a little like _falling in love_ , feels like, yes, he really could hold onto this for a long time.  
  
“So… Neko Atsume—or just the theme song? It helped you feel calmer whenever you were stressed or nervous,” says Hanamaki slowly.  
  
“The theme song, mostly,” Matsukawa replies. “But, I mean, it’s also impossible for me to look at the cats and not feel better.”  
  
“And whenever you played Neko Atsume around _me_ …”  
  
“ _So_ _nervous_.” Matsukawa tilts his head back and closes his eyes for a moment, a little laugh playing at his mouth. “My heart felt like imploding whenever you got too close. I’ve liked you since the start of the year, but I never thought I’d ever have the guts to actually tell you.” He pauses, chances a look at Hanamaki, and says: “I didn’t… I didn’t know you liked me, too.”  
  
Hanamaki runs his thumb over the back of Matsukawa’s hand. “I didn’t realise it until pretty recently. I think it was such a… gradual thing, it didn’t become obvious until I really thought about it? Because I’m always so comfortable around you. I was trying to figure out why you played Neko Atsume so much, and then I thought about the possibility of you liking me, and it made me feel all mushy and stuff, and… look, the bottom line is that I am a _great_ detective.”  
  
Matsukawa just groans loudly, and Hanamaki starts laughing again. He presses his head against Matsukawa’s shoulder, and feels Matsukawa lean against him too, and as they stay this way for a good minute or two, he can’t stop smiling the entire time.  
  
The Neko Atsume theme song stops suddenly as Matsukawa finally closes his app—honestly, for Hanamaki, he’s heard the song so many times by now, he’s kind of half-tuned it out and kind of forgets about it without realising. He raises his head to look at Matsukawa, and when he sees that warm, relaxed smile he sometimes has, Hanamaki thinks he can feel it bloom from somewhere deep in his chest. He watches Matsukawa take a deep breath, watches the tension ease from his shoulders, thinks that for Matsukawa, he’s holding onto this for a long time, too.  
  
“So, if you’re still up for it,” says Matsukawa, “how about that date?”  
  
“Any time you’re ready,” says Hanamaki.  
  
“How about today?”  
  
“Today is good.”  
  
“Right now?”  
  
“Let’s go.”  
  
And they stand, jostling each other, dusting dirt and blades of grass from their pants, and groaning about legs falling asleep. Together, in the quiet of the late Sunday morning, they leave the riverside, unafraid.  


**Author's Note:**

>   
>  hallo friends u can find me screeching over matsuhana over on [twitter](http://twitter.com/naffnuffnice) and/or [tumblr](http://naff-nuff-nice.tumblr.com/)   
> 


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